DESC9097 Digital Communication in Design Use of CMC and CSCW for Design Projects Mary Lou Maher 23 March 2002

Overview CMC tools and issues Media types for collaborative design Network communication terminology

Computer-Mediated Communication Asynchronous - send information Synchronous - conversation

Asynchronous Communication –One to one or one to many –Personal messages –informal List server –Broadcast to a list Bulletin Board –Send message to a central location Web Pages

Managing Communication in Subject of is IMPORTANT address nicknames Filters and multiple mailboxes Attachments and file management Keep old messages for reference

beyond sending text messages Broadcast information to mailing lists Attaching documents for file transfer Discussion threads and documentation File management

Listservers LISTSERV is an distribution software, for electronic mailing lists, that contains a list of users subscribed to that list. Each time a message is sent to the list server, it is forwarded to all the members of the list. Members have the capacity to automatically subscribe and unsubscribe, by simply sending a message to the automated administrator. Sometimes, the messages sent to the list are first checked by a moderator and then forwarded to all the other members.

Bulletin Boards The major difference between a bulletin board and a list server is that the message sent to a list server is sent directly to each user’s box whereas a message sent to a bulletin board is viewed by the users when they go to a specific place on the internet. Thus, a person does not need to have an account to be able to participate in the "life" on the bulletin board. The advantage of the bulletin board is that messages do not get mixed up with all the other messages that a person receives and therefore the messages can be seen as a coherent group representing an asynchronous discussion. At a glance, readers can keep track of discussions and access old messages that are kept on the bulletin board.

Asynchronous Communication Tools: Advantages, Disadvantages direct to person, hard to maintain a discussion Listservers: broadcast direct to person, hard to control content Bulletin boards: threaded discussions, does not go to person Web pages: accessible to all, changes do not go to anyone

Synchronous Communication Chat –Talking by typing in a text window Video Conference –Talking by speaking with a video window Shared or Multi-user window – viewing slides or web pages –drawing board –applications/authoring Virtual World –3D worlds with users as avatars

Chat Talking by typing Chat, IRC, ICQ, MSN Messenger Considerations –Low bandwidth requirements –Multi threaded conversation –Typing skills are important –New registers emerge

Video Conference Provides video and audio communication “Being there” Considerations: –High bandwidth requirements –Protocols –Displacement

Video conference with shared whiteboard

Shared window Shared whiteboard –Master-slave, only one person can make changes –Multi-user Shared application –Multi-user CAD –Multi-user text editing

Virtual Worlds Example –Active Worlds Can see the location of other people Usually talk by typing

different kinds of communication implies different kinds of collaboration

Two metaphors for CMC tools: Desktop - providing desktop tools for communication, such as , video conferences, transferring CAD files, web browsers Place - providing a place for collaboration, such as virtual worlds, virtual reality, etc.

Desktop Tools Web-based tools - use internet protocols for communicating ideas and sharing design files “Design Office Automation” packages - use one software vendor for all computing needs, such as Microsoft

Web-based Tools Web browsers Chat rooms Internet phone Internet video conference File transfer Advantages: Heterogeneous platforms supported Standards for transferring data Disadvantages: Management is done manually Lowest standard is used

Office Automation Word Processing Document Management Calendars Project Management Databases Web browsing/editing Advantages: Common format Interchange between apps More advanced features Disadvantages: Cannot introduce new features Everyone must use the same apps Cannot use specialised design apps

Places for Collaboration 3D simulations –Mimic the physical world and its functionality –Navigation occurs by moving around the 3D model Object-oriented worlds –Functionality can start with physical analogy –Extend the use and interactivity beyond the physical

3D Simulations CAVE Active Worlds VRML Advantages: Looks like the physical world Navigation is intuitive Good for viewing models that will be physical buildings Disadvantages: Difficult to communicate Functions are limited to those of physical world No inherent document management

Object-oriented virtual worlds Active Worlds VWorlds VirTools TappedIn Advantages: Identity of people and places and things Reactive objects in the world Invent new functions Disadvantages: Less intuitive Requires expertise to use all functions No inherent design support

Collaborative Design Communicating –Meetings –Sharing files –Discussing ideas Designing –Drawing –Modelling –Analysing the brief

Approaches to CMCD Office automation supports document and project management Virtual worlds support synchronous communication Simulations support collaborative modelling

Media Types and Communication

Digital Design Media CAD 3D Models Movies Images Text documents Databases Issues: Size of files Versions Multiple authors File management Naming conventions

Images Format - gif, jpeg, png, etc Application - Photoshop, ArchiCAD Colour - 8 bit, 32 bit, etc Resolution - 72 dpi, 600 dpi

CAD Applications - AutoCAD, ArchiCAD Libraries - shared, distributed Layer conventions - across organisations Documentation standards - dimensioning etc File formats - dxf, dwf, pln Object/Product models - IAI, STEP

Text Documents Style guides Fonts and formats File types Edit or browse Naming conventions

Databases Information is organised Can manipulate data Can be linked to CAD Database standards

Media Types and Issues In order to share information, the project must agree on: –Standard applications –Standard formats –Viewing or browsing

Networks, the Internet, and the WWW

Terminology Internet Wide Area Network (WAN) Local Area Network (LAN) World Wide Web (WWW) Web Server Mail Server Client

Domain Names and Services

Structure of the Internet

World Wide Web Publicly available files/services on web servers Uses TCP/IP for data transfer Uses HTTP and others for data format Files are accessed by URL Data is browsed using a Web Browser Client

WWW and URLs

WWW Protocols and Applications

File types and applications

Markup Languages

Internet and Standards Data transfer on networks Markup languages File formats and types Protocols and applications Special media types and client helpers

Future Issues for Network Communications Very high speed networks Broadband communications Better compression Different types of network transmission, eg air doc and bus New protocols for the WWW